St. Gayane Church

St. Gayane Church is located in the southern part of the city of Vagharshapat (Etchmiadzin), southeast of the Mother Cathedral. According to historical sources, the church was built in 630 by Catholicos Ezr Nigetsi, on the site of a martyr's chapel. The church is built of finely hewn tuff stone. According to Agathangelos, that chapel was originally constructed at the beginning of the 4th century over the tomb of the martyr virgin Gayane of the Hripsimean group. The church is considered one of the best examples of the early period of Armenian ecclesiastical architecture. In terms of architectural design, it belongs to the domed-basilica type of churches, a structural composition developed between the 5th and 7th centuries. The main altar and two square vestries are located on the eastern side. In the southeastern vestry is the entrance leading to the burial vault of the Virgin Gayane, located beneath the main altar. The church has three entrances—on the south, west, and north. The exterior appearance of the church is quite simple: the doors are framed, and the window arches are ornamented. Over the centuries, the temple suffered considerable destruction, and the first restoration work was carried out during the time of Catholicos Philippus in 1652, during which the ruined walls, the drum of the dome, and the conical roof were restored. Several decades later, during the reign of Catholicos Yeghiazar I of Antep (1682–1691), a three-arched portico (narthex) was attached to the western or main entrance. Buried there are Catholicoi of All Armenians Yeghiazar I of Antep, Abraham II of Mshk, Simeon I of Yerevan, and Hovsep Arghutyan. Inside the church and in the surrounding cemetery, there are around twenty khachkars (cross-stones) dating from the 10th to the 17th centuries.